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Cisco VFrame Data Center 1.1 Administration Guide
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Preface
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Getting Started with VFrame Data Center
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Managing Roles and Local Users
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Setting Up the Physical Network
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Managing Device Credentials
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Configuring DHCP for VFrame
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Discovering Devices
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Managing Devices
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Managing Server Images
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Managing Resource Pools
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Managing Virtual Contexts
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Designing Templates
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Managing Macros and Variable Group Types from the Library Manager
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Designing Service Networks
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Operating Service Networks
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Managing Faults
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Viewing Reports
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Maintaining Devices
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Managing the VFrame System
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System Actions and Default Variables
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Index
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Table Of Contents
Understanding How Discovery, Rediscovery, and Reinventory Differ
Discovering Ethernet Switches and Service Modules
Discovering SAN Fabric Devices and Their Components
Discovering NAS Filers and Their Components
Discovering Storage Arrays and Their Components Through Storage Managers
Discovering LOM Interfaces and the Server Inventory Through LOM Managers
Discovering Application Servers for Unassociated LOM Interfaces
Rescheduling or Unscheduling Discovery Jobs
Discovering Devices
After you configure device credentials, you can run discovery to bring the physical resources into the VFrame database. After you run discovery, the discovered devices appear on the Resources tab.
The following topics provide more information:
Understanding Discovery
These topics describe the basic concepts of resource discovery:
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Understanding How Discovery, Rediscovery, and Reinventory Differ
Understanding Discovery Jobs
Discovery brings the physical resources of the data center into the VFrame database. Physical resources are network devices, such as Ethernet switches and service modules; storage devices, such as NAS filers, MDS switches, storage managers, and storage arrays; and servers, such as application servers and LOM managers. When you run discovery, use the Schedule Editor dialog box to specify the scope of discovery as well as the type of elements you want discovered. The result is a discovery job, which you can rerun whenever you want.
You can discover the following elements:
Network
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Storage
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Before you run storage manager discovery to discover storage arrays and their components, you must use a storage manager template to define macros. With macros, you control the logical units and ports that should be visible to a particular server. You can use these macros for inventory of storage array ports and logical units and for logical unit masking and unmasking. For details about storage manager templates, see Storage Manager Templates.
For details about storage managers, see Storage Managers.
Servers
Application servers are discovered using the inventory operating system (OS). Running the inventory OS is a process through which VFrame obtains hardware details about the server. When a server is PXE booted, VFrame responds to the PXE boot request by providing an IP address and the inventory OS. After the inventory OS runs on the server, VFrame obtains the server's hardware inventory, such as its CPU, speed, memory, and system partitions.
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In order for VFrame to discover application or model servers, you must PXE boot the servers. During PXE boot, the server sends a DHCP request. VFrame responds to the DHCP request only on its server communication interface, so make sure that the server is set up correctly, otherwise the server will not be discovered (see Setting Up Servers).
For more information about DHCP, see Understanding How VFrame Uses DHCP.
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VFrame uses LOM managers and LOM configuration macros to control the power of the servers.VFrame runs the macros on the specified LOM manager to retrieve a list of LOM interfaces associated with the physical servers, to power on and power off the servers, and to obtain the power status of the servers.
For details about LOM manager templates, see LOM Manager Templates.
Understanding How Discovery, Rediscovery, and Reinventory Differ
When you create a discovery job, you can specify that the job run multiple times on a regular schedule. For example, you could have the job run every week.
The benefit of rerunning discovery jobs is that it allows VFrame to notice changes in the network. For example, if you run a network discovery job using 2 as the CDP distance, and you add a new switch to the network within that distance to the CDP seed device defined in the discovery job, the rediscovery of the CDP seed will notice the new switch and add it to the VFrame database. You can then select it in the device selector on the Resources tab and manage it.
Additionally, discovery jobs reevaluate the resources that were previously discovered. It is this activity of reexamining known devices that is called rediscovery. During a discovery job, if VFrame evaluates an already known device, it runs the inventory process on the device. (Inventory is initially run when you first manage a device, and subsequent inventories are considered reinventories.)
During rediscovery and reinventory, VFrame can identify many configuration changes, such as the addition of security contexts to a managed FWSM or new VLANs on managed switches. These changes are reflected in the database, and you can manage the new resources.
After rediscovery and reinventory, the database will reflect the current state of the resource configuration. However, if you made configuration changes that VFrame cannot accommodate (such as deleting a managed VLAN from a switch), the process will raise fault alarms identifying the problematic changes.
Device Rediscovery Tips
These are some tips that might help you understand what happens during rediscovery, and how to avoid some pitfalls:
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We recommend that you do not move the seed switch from one fabric to another. If you need to move it, first select another switch to serve as the seed switch for that fabric, and then move it, otherwise discovery will fail.
VFrame supports two fabrics, for example, Fabric 1 and Fabric 2. If you need to discard the existing physical switch topology and use a new topology as Fabric 1 or Fabric 2, we recommend that you do the following:
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We highly recommend that you follow these steps. VFrame does not enforce it to accommodate extreme hardware failures. For example, if all switches in Fabric 2 failed, and you had to replace them with new switches and cable them exactly the same way.
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Discovering Devices
The following topics describe how to discover devices:
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Discovering Ethernet Switches and Service Modules
You can discover network devices such as an Ethernet switch and its service modules.
Before You Begin
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Procedure
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
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Step 5
Step 6
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If you schedule the discovery job, you can also select Enable Repeat to schedule the job to be rerun until you cancel the job. Select the frequency time period (such as hour or day), and enter the number of time periods for the recurrence schedule. For example, selecting 2 Weeks causes the discovery job to be rerun every 2 weeks until canceled.
Step 7
VFrame creates a discovery job and adds it to the jobs list on the Discovery tab. When the job starts, you can view its progress by selecting it in the upper pane. The messages generated during the job's progress appear in the Job Logs pane (the lower pane).
If discovery is successful, the discovered Ethernet switches, line cards, supervisor engine, and service modules in the switch are displayed in the device selector on the Resources tab under Network Devices.
If a device is unsupported, it appears under Unsupported Devices in the device selector on the Resources tab.
Next Step
After you discover the Ethernet switch and service modules, you can manage them (see Managing and Unmanaging Ethernet Switches, page 7-11 and Managing and Unmanaging Service Modules, page 7-17).
Related Topics
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Discovering Storage Devices
The following topics describe how to discover storage devices:
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Discovering SAN Fabric Devices and Their Components
You can discover the MDS switches and their VSANs in one or two physical SAN fabrics. For each physical fabric the active VSANs in the seed switch determine which additional MDS switches are discovered.
Before You Begin
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Procedure
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
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Step 6
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If you schedule the discovery job, you can also select Enable Repeat to schedule the job to be rerun until you cancel the job. Select the frequency time period (such as hour or day), and enter the number of time periods for the recurrence schedule. For example, selecting 2 Weeks causes the discovery job to be rerun every 2 weeks until canceled.
Step 7
VFrame creates a discovery job and adds it to the jobs list on the Discovery tab. When the job starts, you can view its progress by selecting it in the upper pane. The messages generated during the job's progress appear in the Job Logs pane (the lower pane).
If discovery is successful, then for each physical SAN fabric the seed MDS switch, its active VSANs, and all of the MDS switches that participate in those VSANs are discovered and appear in the device selector on the Resources tab. The switch ports are also discovered, but they appear in the details table.
Next Step
After you discover the SAN fabric seed MDS switch, you can manage its components, such as its VSANs, storage array target ports, and LUNs (see Managing and Unmanaging SAN Fabric Components, page 7-22).
Related Topics
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Discovering NAS Filers and Their Components
You can discover NAS filers and its volumes, QTrees, and CIFS shares.
Before You Begin
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Procedure
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
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Step 6
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If you schedule the discovery job, you can also select Enable Repeat to schedule the job to be rerun until you cancel the job. Select the frequency time period (such as hour or day), and enter the number of time periods for the recurrence schedule. For example, selecting 2 Weeks causes the discovery job to be rerun every 2 weeks until canceled.
Step 7
VFrame creates a discovery job and adds it to the jobs list on the Discovery tab. When the job starts, you can view its progress by selecting it in the upper pane. The messages generated during the job's progress appear in the Job Logs pane (the lower pane).
If discovery is successful, the discovered NAS filer appears in the device selector on the Resources tab. The volumes, QTrees, and CIFS shares appear in the details table.
Next Step
After you discover the NAS filer, you can manage its volumes, QTrees and CIFS shares (see Managing and Unmanaging NAS Filer Components, page 7-20).
Related Topics
Discovering Storage Arrays and Their Components Through Storage Managers
You can discover storage arrays and their port and logical unit information by discovering storage managers.
Before You Begin
You must do the following tasks before you run storage manager discovery to discover storage arrays and their components:
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Procedure
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
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If you schedule the discovery job, you can also select Enable Repeat to schedule the job to be rerun until you cancel the job. Select the frequency time period (such as hour or day), and enter the number of time periods for the recurrence schedule. For example, selecting 2 Weeks causes the discovery job to be rerun every 2 weeks until canceled.
Step 7
VFrame creates a discovery job and adds it to the jobs list on the Discovery tab. When the job starts, you can view its progress by selecting it in the upper pane. The messages generated during the job's progress appear in the Job Logs pane (the lower pane).
If discovery is successful, the storage arrays that are configured to be discovered through the selected storage managers and their port and logical unit information appear in the device selector on the Resources tab.
Next Steps
After you discover the storage manager, you can manage the LUNs and ports in the storage array (see Managing and Unmanaging Storage Arrays and Their Components, page 7-27).
Related Topics
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Discovering Servers
Table 6-1 is an overview of the steps you must take before you discover servers.
Table 6-1 Workflow for Server Discovery
Step 1
Configure a DHCP IP address range and configure DHCP helpers if necessary. See these topics:
Step 2
Discover the LOM interfaces and server inventory defined on the LOM managers.
See Discovering LOM Interfaces and the Server Inventory Through LOM Managers.
Step 3
Discover the servers for unassociated LOM interfaces.
See Discovering Application Servers for Unassociated LOM Interfaces.
Discovering LOM Interfaces and the Server Inventory Through LOM Managers
Before you can discover servers, you must discover the server inventory as it is defined on the LOM managers. The inventory includes information about the LOM interfaces on each server. VFrame discovers and manages the server by controlling it through the LOM interface.
Before You Begin
You must do the following tasks before you discover LOM interfaces and the server inventory:
1.
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Procedure
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
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If you schedule the discovery job, you can also select Enable Repeat to schedule the job to be rerun until you cancel the job. Select the frequency time period (such as hour or day), and enter the number of time periods for the recurrence schedule. For example, selecting 2 Weeks causes the discovery job to be rerun every 2 weeks until canceled.
Step 7
VFrame creates a discovery job and adds it to the jobs list on the Discovery tab. When the job starts, you can view its progress by selecting it in the upper pane. The messages generated during the job's progress appear in the Job Logs pane (the lower pane).
If discovery is successful, the LOM interfaces and server inventory appear in the Details Table associated with each discovered LOM manager on the Resources tab (right-click the LOM manager in the device selector and click Show Details Table).
Related Topics
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Discovering Application Servers for Unassociated LOM Interfaces
After you discover a LOM manager, the details table for the LOM manager lists all LOM interfaces contained in the LOM manager's inventory. Any LOM interfaces that belong to undiscovered servers are listed in the Unassociated LOMs section of the table. These are the servers that you need to discover. After discovering a server, the server is added to the Servers folder in the device selector.
Before You Begin
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Procedure
Step 1
The details table lists the LOM interface information for each server listed in the LOM manager's inventory file.
Step 2
Step 3
Tip
Step 4
Powering on the server boots it. If the server is configured correctly, it PXE boots. VFrame acts as the DHCP server and responds to the boot message with these items:
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It will take some time for the servers to finish booting and sending their physical attributes to VFrame. When the process finishes, the servers appear in the Servers folder in the device selector.
Tips
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Next Step
After you discover the servers, you can manage them (see Managing and Unmanaging Application Servers, page 7-30).
Related Topics
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Viewing the Discovery Status
You can view the status of discovery jobs on the Discovery tab. If there are a large number of jobs, you can filter the list to show only those jobs that interest you, such as those scheduled to run in the future or those currently running.
Procedure
Step 1
The upper pane includes a list of discovery jobs with summary information about each job.
To reduce the number of jobs displayed, click Filter, select the job characteristics that interest you, and click OK. Jobs that do not satisfy the filter are not displayed.
Click Show All to remove the filter.
Step 2
You can filter this list by selecting a severity level, which shows you only messages of the selected severity level.
Click the Task Results tab to view messages related to macro execution for LOM manager and storage manager discovery jobs.
Related Topics
Rescheduling or Unscheduling Discovery Jobs
You can reschedule or unschedule discovery jobs from the Discovery tab (select Tools > Discovery). Changing the job schedule is typically done for jobs that are scheduled to recur, that is, to perform periodic rediscovery. Rediscovery updates the device inventory and identifies changes to resources that VFrame already knows about.
These are your options for discovery job management:
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Related Topics
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Troubleshooting Discovery
These are some problems you might encounter when discovering devices and their solutions:
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Problem
Solution
Problem
Solution
Problem
Solution
switchport<vlan #>
switchport access vlan
no ip addressMake sure that the switch port configuration does not contain the shutdown command.
Problem
Solution
Discovery Reference
These topics describe the main tab and dialog boxes you use when discovering devices:
Discovery Tab
Use the Discovery tab to view the status of the discovery job, to specify the DHCP range for server discovery, and to initiate or schedule discovery for network devices, NAS filers, SAN fabric devices, storage managers, and LOM managers.
How to Get to This PageSelect Tools > Discovery to open the Discovery tab.
Related Topics•
Field Reference
Table 6-2 Discovery Tab
DHCP button
Click this button to open the DHCP dialog box, in which you enter the DHCP IP address ranges for server discovery or golden image creation (see DHCP Dialog Box).
New button
Click this button to open the Schedule Editor dialog box, which enables you to schedule discovery for Ethernet switches, NAS filers, SAN fabric devices, storage managers, and LOM managers (see Schedule Editor Dialog Box).
Reschedule button
Click this button to reschedule the selected discovery job. The Schedule Editor dialog box opens for you to reschedule the job (see Rescheduling or Unscheduling Discovery Jobs).
When the devices are rediscovered, the device inventory is updated and the updated list is displayed in the device selector in the Resources tab.
Unschedule button
Click this button to unschedule a scheduled discovery job, which effectively cancels the job. You cannot cancel a running job.
Filter button
If a filter is applied to the list, the button name is shown as:
Filter... (filtered)
Opens the Filter dialog box, where you can select a job type to reduce the size of the job list and display only those jobs that you want to see. The following are filter elements:
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Show All
Click this button to display all jobs, removing any filter that is currently set. To reapply the filter, click Filter to open the Filter dialog box (which retains the previous filter values), then click OK.
Name
The name assigned to the discovery job.
Type
The type of discovery job.
Status
The status of the job. The status Scheduled indicates the job is scheduled to run in the future. Scheduled and Unscheduled jobs do not have job log entries (in the bottom pane).
Start Time
The date and time the job started. For scheduled jobs, when it is scheduled to run next.
Percent Complete
How much of the job has finished.
Duration
The amount of time the job took to finish.
The log shows the messages for the job you select from the upper pane. To change the sorting order of the messages, click the column title on which you want to sort.
Job Log Filters
Use the filter to reduce the size of the list and show only those messages you want to see. Filter elements include:
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Time
The date and time the message was logged.
Severity
The severity level of the message.
Entry
The job log message received from the server.
The Task Results tab shows the messages for the macro events for the LOM manager or storage manager discovery job you select from the upper panel, if any macros were executed during the job. To change the sorting order of the messages, click on the column title on which you want to sort.
Each task has an associated job log you can view to see detailed execution information.
Details button
Click this button to open the Log Record Details dialog box for the selected row, which is the same as double-clicking the row or selecting Show Details from the right-click shortcut menu.
The Log Record Details dialog box displays the message information in a more readable format. You can use the < and > buttons to scroll through the task result summaries.
Logs button
Click this button to open the macro execution log for the selected row, if there is a log associated with the action. The log includes the commands sent to the device and the device prompts and responses. Logs are only available for user-defined macros.
Perl Routine button
Click this button to open the Perl file that was generated before running the macro for the selected row. This button is active only for user-defined macros.
Variable File button
Click this button to view the variable values that were generated before running the macro for the selected row. This button is active only for user-defined macros.
Status
The status of the action, indicating whether it was successful.
Last Update Time
Time the action was completed.
Event Type
The type of event that occurred. Use the information in the Event Name field instead of this field.
Event Name
The type of event that occurred. For a complete list of event types, see Events.
Action
The name of the action.
Action Type
Whether the action was system- or user-initiated. User-defined events or macros have the User action type.
Message
The error or informational message issued after the action occurred.
Resource
The physical resource associated with the target element.
Source SNE Name
The name of the service network element that performed the action. Because these are discovery jobs, which are not related to a specific service network, the service network element is typically the LOM manager or storage manager, and the source and target SNE names are the same.
Target SNE Name
The name of the target service network element on which the action occurred.
Prev. Reset Status
The status of the error before it was cleared. If there is no previous status, NA is displayed.
Reset By
The username of the person who cleared the error. If there is no previous error reset, NA is displayed.
Schedule Editor Dialog Box
Use the Schedule Editor dialog box to initiate or schedule discovery for network devices, NAS filers, SAN fabric devices, storage managers, and LOM managers. See these topics for detailed information:
How to Get to This Dialog BoxSelect Tools > Discovery to open the Discovery tab, then click New to open the Schedule Editor dialog box. Click the appropriate tabs to initiate or schedule discovery.
Network Tab
Use the Network tab for network device discovery. Enter the IP address of the CDP seed device. VFrame discovers all the neighboring switches (in the specified distance) that are directly connected to the seed device (Ethernet switch) and obtains information about those devices.
How to Get to This TabSelect Tools > Discovery to open the Discovery tab, click New to open the Schedule Editor dialog box, and then click Network.
Related Topics•
Field Reference
NAS Filers Tab
Use the NAS Filers tab for NAS filer discovery. When you provide the IP address or DNS name of the NAS filer, VFrame discovers the NAS filer, its volumes, QTrees, and CIFS shares.
How to Get to This TabSelect Tools > Discovery to open the Discovery tab, click New to open the Schedule Editor dialog box, and then click NAS Filers.
Related Topics•
Field Reference
SAN Fabric Devices Tab
Use the SAN Fabric Devices tab for MDS switch and VSAN discovery. When you provide the IP address or DNS name of a seed MDS switch for a physical fabric, VFrame discovers the switch's active VSANs and all neighboring MDS switches in that physical fabric that have member ports in the same active VSANs.
How to Get to This TabSelect Tools > Discovery to open the Discovery tab, click New to open the Schedule Editor dialog box, and then click SAN Fabric Devices.
Related Topics•
Field Reference
Storage Managers Tab
Use the Storage Manager tab to discover storage arrays through storage managers. When you select a storage manager and run discovery, VFrame discovers storage arrays that are configured to be discovered through that storage manager and the related port and logical unit information.
How to Get to This TabSelect Tools > Discovery to open the Discovery tab, click New to open the Schedule Editor dialog box, and then click Storage Managers.
Related Topics•
Field Reference
Table 6-6 Storage Manager Tab
Name
The name of the discovery job.
Managers
Lists the storage managers you defined. Select the storage managers whose storage arrays you want to discover. For information on defining storage managers, see Defining Storage Managers.
Run Now radio button
Click this radio button, and then click OK to start discovery immediately.
Schedule radio button
Click this radio button, set the start date and time, and then click OK to start discovery on the scheduled date and time. The time zone is the same as the one configured on VFrame.
Start Date
The date to begin discovery.
Start Time
The time to begin discovery.
Enable Repeat
Whether you want the discovery job to be rerun at the defined interval until the job is canceled.
Every
The frequency of time periods for repeating the discovery job. The default is 1.
In the corresponding field, select the frequency time period: minutes, hours, days, or weeks. For example, selecting 2 Weeks causes the discovery job to be rerun every 2 weeks until canceled.
LOM Managers Tab
Use the LOM Managers tab to discover LOM interfaces in a server through LOM managers.
How to Get to This TabSelect Tools > Discovery to open the Discovery tab, click New to open the Schedule Editor dialog box, and then click LOM Managers.
Related Topics•
Field Reference
Table 6-7 LOM Managers Tab
Name
The name of the discovery job.
Managers
LOM managers you defined. Select a LOM manager to run discovery. For information on defining LOM managers, see Defining LOM Managers.
Run Now radio button
Click this radio button, and then click OK to start discovery immediately.
Schedule radio button
Click this radio button, set the start date and time, and then click OK to start discovery on the scheduled date and time. The time zone is the same as the one configured on VFrame.
Start Date
The date to begin discovery.
Start Time
The time to begin discovery.
Enable Repeat
Whether you want the discovery job to be rerun at the defined interval until the job is canceled.
Every
The frequency of time periods for repeating the discovery job. The default is 1.
In the corresponding field, select the frequency time period: minutes, hours, days, or weeks. For example, selecting 2 Weeks causes the discovery job to be rerun every 2 weeks until canceled.
